Friday, November 18, 2005

Stuck in the sixties ...

Though I've talked about "Psychedelic Rock" earlier; here's some other rock-forms that evoled in the sixties:

SURF ROCK: In the early sixties, one of the most popular form of rock was “Surf Rock”. It evolved in the West coast; and is characterized by heavy instrumentation; especially electric guitar and innovative percussion. Major Acts: The Surfaris, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, The Ventures

GARAGE ROCK: In mid-sixties a new trend, when many performers rehearsed in the family “garage”. The music usually had simple chord progression, pounding drums and short repetitive lyrics. It is said to have influenced several punk rock groups, that emerged in the seventies; especially Ramones.Major Acts: The Seeds, Shadows of Knight, Question Mark …

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK: It emerged in the mid-sixties and was an attempt to capture the hallucinating effects of drugs… [Discussed earlier] Major Acts: Velvet Underground, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Pink Floyd

PROGRESSIVE ROCK / CLASSICAL ROCK / ART ROCK:It’s a grandiose style of rock that emerged in the late sixties and peaked in its popularity in early seventies. It is a mostly fusion of classical music and jazz. It began in England and is largely a European movement, as against American rock, which is more influenced by R&B and country music. Progressive rock is said to be closest to Classical music form.Main characteristics:- Long compositions: many times over 20 minutes.- The theme was mostly sci-fi, fantasy, war, history, religionMajor Acts: King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd

GLAM ROCK / GLITTER ROCK:It emerged in the late sixties and declined by mid seventies. It is more distinguished by its costume and stage acts of performers, rather than any particular aspect of music. The performers put glittery make-up and wore outrageous costumes. “Take a stylish stroll through the early seventies, when boys would be girls and girls would be boys.” Major Acts: David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Mott the Hoople, New York Dolls, T.Rex, Kiss, Queen.

Origin of the * term* Rock n Roll:The word rocking was used by gospel singers of American South, to mean something akin to “spiritual rapture”. By 1940’s it was used as double entendre with hidden sexual references. During the fifties when a new wave of music evolved; which was fast paced and drew heavily on R&B; a Cleveland disc jockey, used the term “Rock-n-Roll” to describe the rollicking music on the airwaves … and the name Rock-n-roll stuck … However later it was referred only as Rock-music.